Every once in a while the world reaches out to you and does something totally unexpected. This is one of those times.

I came home at 2 am last night and found a letter waiting for me. The return ominously said “Hamfield | Davis LLP” but did not include a return address. I opened the envelope and found this treasure:

I've hardly made it a secrety that I love Google and everything they do.  But I also like to emphasize that I don't think everything they do is wonderful simply because I'm a fanboy.  Rather, I am a fanboy because everything they do is wonderful.  If the day comes where they start making terrible products, or someone else is making better, then I will switch allegiance.  Will that day come?  Probably; I used to say the same thing about Yahoo.

So, AIM is dead.  That's AOL Instant Messenger.  Let me back up.

There's an old rivalry in San Francisco between bikers and car drivers, and every once in a while someone dies.  Everyone in SF is either a biker or a driver, and so everyone has already taken sides.  Here's my position:

You're both wrong.

I am still a lawyer, even if I don't act like it much any more.  But I have a client right now, a criminal defendant, and it's time to write a motion.  I haven't written a motion in three years; my new laptop is set up for web design, not legal practice.  But this was one of those skills that was beaten into me very effectively, so I know what I need.

In just a couple months, Venus is going to pass in front of the Sun - or more correctly, Venus will transit between the Earth and the Sun.  This is the last time it will happen during your life.  It won't be visible from everywhere on the planet, but will be visible in California, in the afternoon and early evening on May 6, 2012.  It gets better: May 6 is a Sunday (coincidence???), so I won't have to explain to my boss that I'm leaving work early in order to go stare at the Sun.

Today, a triple dose of awesome.

First up: Someone built the International Space Station out of legos.  On the International Space Station.  This was an educational project run by a real astronaut on the real ISS:

I've got a couple friends who have recently started telling people they're married.  They're gay, but that's not the problem.  The problem is there was no ceremony and no ring.  (I'm not going to name names, because this rant really isn't about that, it's about a larger point.)

Obviously, we're entering a new era for marriage.  There used to be certain assumptions about marriage:

So, apparently people are in a tizzy over Rick Santorum's comments about women in the workforce.  I think he has a point.  Hear me out.

A news story recently broke that iPhone apps are allowed to upload your entire address book to their server, without telling you.  You know what I'm going to say here.